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CIA has 'excellent' idea where bin Laden is

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
CIA Director Porter Goss said he has an "excellent" idea where
Osama bin Laden is hiding, but the al Qaeda leader will not be brought to justice until weak links in counterterrorism efforts are strengthened, Time magazine reported on Sunday.

In his first interview since becoming head of the CIA last year, Goss also told the magazine the insurgency in
Iraq was not quite in its last throes, but close to it.

Goss did not say where he believed bin Laden was hiding, but intelligence experts have said the al Qaeda leader who has evaded an extensive U.S.-led manhunt is probably in the border region of Pakistan and
Afghanistan.

"I have an excellent idea of where he is. What's the next question?" Goss said in the interview.

"In the chain that you need to successfully wrap up the war on terror, we have some weak links. And I find that until we strengthen all the links, we're probably not going to be able to bring Mr. bin Laden to justice," Goss said. "We are making very good progress on it."

He cited some of the difficulties as "dealing with sanctuaries in sovereign states, you're dealing with a problem of our sense of international obligation, fair play."

Goss added, "We have to find a way to work in a conventional world in unconventional ways that are acceptable to the international community."

Al Qaeda could strike the United States again, he said. "Certainly the intent is very high. And we are trying to stay ahead of their capability. And so far, I think we have done pretty well carrying the war to them, as it were," Goss said.

Bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, sporadically release taped messages that have been broadcast on Arab television or on the Internet since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Intelligence experts say the messages are partly to reassure followers that the leaders are still alive.

In the most recent message, a videotape broadcast by Arabic television Al Jazeera on Friday, Zawahri said reform in Muslim countries and "expelling the invaders" could not be accomplished except by fighting.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a key figure behind the insurgency in Iraq, is aligned with al Qaeda.

Vice President
Dick Cheney has said the insurgency was in the "last throes."
President Bush says it would be wrong to set a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq and that they will stay until local security forces are trained to take over.

Goss said, "I think they're not quite in the last throes, but I think they are very close to it. And I think that every day that goes by in Iraq where they have their own government and it's moving forward reinforces just how radical (the insurgents) are and how unwanted they are."

Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), an Arizona Republican, said on Sunday that he did not believe that the insurgency was in the last throes.

"I don't think Americans believe that we should cut and run out of Iraq by any stretch of the imagination. But I think they also would like to be told, in reality, what's going on," McCain said on NBC's "Meet The Press."

"I think part of that is it's going to be at least a couple more years," he said.

Goss expressed relief the new director of national intelligence, John Negroponte, was taking over what previously had been some of the key functions of the CIA director. "I would almost equate it to getting rid of a 60-pound back sack, climbing up a big, steep trail," Goss said.

He said he planned to stay as CIA chief for a while.

"We've got a lot to do. We're in the process of rebuilding here. I think this is our moment. I'm going to be here as long as the moment lasts. And I think it is going to last a while because we have the opportunity to build," he said.

My dad got to enjoy 3 Reds World Championships by the time he was my age. So far, I've only gotten to enjoy one. Step it up Redlegs!

Re: CIA has 'excellent' idea where bin Laden is

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
CIA Director Porter Goss said he has an "excellent" idea where
Osama bin Laden is hiding, but the al Qaeda leader will not be brought to justice until weak links in counterterrorism efforts are strengthened, Time magazine reported on Sunday. .

Can somebody explain to me what this means. What are "weak links in counterterrorism efforts"? If we have an "excellent" idea where OBL is, why don't we just go get him? Why do "weak links in counterterrorism efforts" prevent us from just going and get him if we have an "excellent" idea where he is?

Doctors go on strike in Baquba: Doctors at the main hospital in Baquba, north of Baghdad, have gone on strike, saying they are fed up with constant abuse at the hands of aggressive Iraqi police and soldiers.

More on Operation Whack a Mole: "It's like hunting birds," said Colonel Steve Davis of the U.S. Marines as he surveyed the ruins of what he said was an insurgent base in Karabila on Saturday. "You shoot a few, the rest fly away. You shoot a few again, the rest fly away again."

Re: CIA has 'excellent' idea where bin Laden is

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

Re: CIA has 'excellent' idea where bin Laden is

Originally Posted by savafan

He cited some of the difficulties as "dealing with sanctuaries in sovereign states, you're dealing with a problem of our sense of international obligation, fair play."

What does this mean? That we can't go grab Osama because he's in a sovereign state? Let's be honest, he means Iran. What happened to the tough talk of taking on all terrorists and any country that harbors them? If Osama is in Iran then go get him. Oh wait a minute we are already stretched too thin as it is because of the disaster just to the west of Iran.

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